Thursday, October 11, 2007

Jewish groups plan Jerusalem coalition

Several U.S. Jewish groups are establishing a coalition that would oppose any plan to divide Jerusalem.

"Ministers of the current Israeli government publicly have floated their intention to divide and surrender the Jewish People’s capital city and discard our holiest site -- the Temple Mount," reads a letter to groups invited to join a conference call Thursday on the issue of Jerusalem. "We are forming umbrella organizations in the United States and in Israel as well as an international coordinating committee. We have a mandate, an agenda and clear principles."

The letter was signed by Jeffrey Ballabon, an Orthodox Jewish activist in Republican Party politics and Rabbi Pesach Lerner, the chief executive of the National Council of Young Israel. Among the organizations participating or likely to participate are Young Israel, the Orthodox Union, and the Zionist Organization of America, as well as some pro-settler groups.

It was unclear which groups already had agreed to join the coalition and which still were considering joining.